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How to Study for the Anesthesiology BASIC Board Exam

Posted by
BE Bloger
on August 23, 2016

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If you are about to complete your 18 months of
Anesthesiology Residency, you’re probably starting to prepare for your
Anesthesiology BASIC exam. You learn so much in medical school and
residency, it can be overwhelming when you have a comprehensive exam.
Here’s a guide to help you prioritize.

And why am I providing this advice?! I consider myself a terrible
test taker, but I managed to pass both the written and oral Anesthesia
Boards on the first attempt.

But how?

Practice, read, and…. repeat!

Do as many practice questions as you can for both the written and
oral exams. For the written exam, you can find practice questions on the
American Board of Anesthesiology website or utilize the highly rated and continuously updated ABA Anesthesiology BASIC exam question bank provided by BoardVitals.

Practice answering the questions and become familiar with the format
of the exam. If you answer the questions correctly, great! Make sure you
know why that was the correct answer. Knowing why helps you
understand the material more comprehensively so wording won’t trip you
up on your exam. If you answered incorrectly, read their explanation and
also read the chapter in your textbook of choice. By practicing with
the questions first, before going back to read the corresponding
chapter, you can better focus your reading on your weak material. You
will “see” the questions within the textbook and your reading will be
high yield.

For the Oral exams, practice stem questions out loud! Practice out
loud with colleagues, with students and by yourself. Having the
knowledge between your ears is fine, but you must be able to articulate
the information and your clinical judgment. If you’re too shy to
practice with others, talk to yourself in your car, when no one is
listening. You would be surprised how many verbal pauses we use in
everyday language. A study buddy can call you out for using too many
“likes,” “ums,” and “you knows.” Verbal pauses are fine during casual
conversations. But in front of a board examiner, you want to portray
yourself as the expert you are! You only want to take the exam once, so
practice, practice, practice. If you record yourself, play it back and
critique yourself. What is your impression of yourself? How is your posture? Do you sound confident? The
examiners know you have the knowledge base – you’ve already completed
and passed the written exam by this point. Now they need to know you’re
able to articulate your knowledge and judgment.

Dr.
Edna Ma is practicing, board-certified anesthesiologist, from Los
Angeles with a B.S. in biologyand M.D. degree from the University of
Colorado. Dr. Edna completed residency training at UCLA’s Department of
Anesthesiology. During her career, she launched BareEASE,
a prep kit featured on SHARK TANK, that numbs the skin before bikini
waxing or laser. She’s able to juggle all of these roles and enjoy her
“tiger mom” responsibilities of raising her two children with the help
of her supportive husband.